Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-02-18

it would not require 10 minutes time at
the very most. Mr.. Hatch in a very mild
voice, said he was very sorry, but unfor-
tunately he was much engaged and could
not possibly grant the request. Said the
visitor, 81 don't wish to trouble you just
give the keys to any one Of these gentle
men pointing to Il group of men among
whom was the writer, and let them 60
with me to the morgue. | cannot posi-
bly, wait until tomorrow surely you will
not deny the request ?"
1"The only answer the railroad official
made" continued the doctor, was to say
with a sickly smile, Really, sir. don't
think can accommodate you. am not
acquainted with these gentlemen"
The result was the man had to go away
| from the hotel without visiting the dead
that is sample case.
| II know another instance where doctor
was prohibited from removing the fully
| identified body of person, owing to some
petty technicality in the certificate of death
which, though not of the slightest inn
portance was loudly commented on and
necessitated delay in the departure OF
the suffering relatives with the corpse.
The error was of no Importance and could
have as well been made under the law
| without the presence of the body as with
it. Moreover, not a single description of
the personal effects found on the train
| have been published officially, nOtwith-
standing that fully six inquiries are upon
the books of the road regarding persons
who thus far are presumably among the
victims, but who cannot be placed, owing
to the entire ignorance of all evidence of
the existence of their personal effects.
| What object to is this: If the authorl-
ties of Vermont, or, in other words, the
officers of the Central Vermont railroad,
have in their possession cleWS which
practically show the presence of missing
persons upon the wrecked train, it is their
duty on the principle of law and justice to
announce the facts, and relieve all further
anxiety of friends.
There are certain facts now established
by presumably reliable witnesses which,
to my satisfaction, prove that the corpora
ton desires to prolong the work OF ldentl-
I fication in order that it may succeed in set
Ting as many claims rs possible before
the victims recover from the shock of the
| disaster"
STATEMENT OF MIR. WHEELER.
Frank Wheeler, Il respectable and intel
ligent gentleman, made substantially the
| following statement: Erred futile of
| Tunbridge was brought to my house di-
rectly after his escape from the wreck Ill
bad condition. His forehead was severe
| ly cut over one eye, ana he was oadIy
| shaken up all over At noon Monday, if
| remember correctly, he was lying on
| lounge IN the dining room, when a gentle
man knocked at the door and asked to see
him. He was ushered in and introduced
! himself as claim agent of the Central Yer
mont road. He then desired to see Mr..
futile alone. The wounded man was
helped from the lounge into a
front room, and there, accompanied
by a second man who came III
after the agent they had long
conversation, after which they left. Tut
| tie was then assisted to the lounge IN
state of nearly complete exhaustion;
| Later, in disconnected sentences, he SAID
that he had been prevailed upon to settle
his claim and save the trouble of legal
contest | was informed afterward that
| he was paid $50 in cash and 81 more to
offset balance due him from the road,
and that the agents left with him written
proof of his agreement. Now | have no
interest whatever antagonistic to the Yer
mont Central, neither am | very well &C
quainted with futile, but | must say, in
common justice, that If the company took
advantage of his feeble condition to eX-
tort a settlement, as is claimed, they did
something which will not stand the
searching inquiry of a court l feel con-
| tident that when the agent came to my
| house the patient was i'll no mental con
dition to transact business of any kind"
Proprietor Cutting of the Eagle House
in West Hartford, said: lie Boeuf, the
| French Canadian from Lynn and DevenO,
whose wife was lost in the sleeper, stopped
here at the house after the accident John
Burgis, residing III the vicinity, asserts
that the former showed him bills, proba-
bly, to the extent of 5000, which he said he
received from claim agent of the Cen
| tral Vermont road, in consideration Tor
damages. The latter, it also appears, was
| paid $500 on account OF his Wlfe'S death
and S25 for individual injuries. a party
who saw him soon alter receiving the
money says he was either very drunk or
out of his head"
| When seen last evening the Ofnclal OF
the Central Vermont road who is said to
have made the above settlements ac-
knowledged that he had paid certain par
ties, but denied that he had used undue
influence in doing so. He stated that he
had given them every dollar they asked
for, and that all insinuatious to the con
trary were base lies. Accepting the above
at its full value, 1t only cliuches the fact
that settlements have been made, and
shows the corporation to be so anxious to
get out of their troubles without large eX-
pense, that it is adopting business meas
ures which, under the circumstances,
though within the letter of the law, never
theless do not seem to contain the spirit
of justice which is expected at such a
time.
If these statements are true, and the re-
porter signs his name to his article, the
public is certainly entitled to the informa-
ton contained in them. Mr.. Hatch, like
ultll OlHtIS VI lut IdlllOdu pcOplC, may
be personally all that is gentlemanly and
amiabe but in this case, and under the
pressure upon him, it is quite clear that
his conduct has been needlessly arbitrary.
For instance, "A Burlington gentleman,
who had accompanied a physician to the
mOrgue, was present at the Identification
of one of the charred bodies He took out a
tablet to make a memorandum of the vic
TINS name and was at once approached by
Mr.. Hatch, who ordered him toput up his
paper and pencil. This being supposed to
be a free country and the use of paper and
pencil for perfectly proper purpose nc
l crime, the gentleman hesitated to com
ply with the order, when he was Informed
, by Mr.. Hatch that unless he put up hi,
: tablet at once he would be put of the
building 1t is not surprising that In view
of things of this sort, the impression
should have become prevalent that th(